About

RickB- Human, Artist, Fool.

Ynys Mon, UK.

The blog is called ten percent because of what Kurt Vonnegut wrote when remembering Susan Sontag - She was asked what she had learned from the Holocaust, and she said that 10 percent of any population is cruel, no matter what, and that 10 percent is merciful, no matter what, and that the remaining 80 percent could be moved in either direction.-

And I'm writing it because I need the therapy and I lust for world domination.

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Madeleine Albright Is Probably Pleased

15 July, 2009 — RickB

Throughout the years, the Iranian technicians became more and more efficient in aircraft maintenance, but lack of essential parts meant the aged and battered fleet faced technical problems, flight delays and crashes. As the sanctions stated, it was prohibited to sell Iran anything that contained more than 10% US technology and most aircraft — including Airbuses and of course Boeings — fell into this category. So Iran looked for alternatives and found one in the shaky, noisy and unreliable Russian Tupolov, many of which have crashed in Iran and around the world.

Since the Revolution, many airplanes have crashed in Iran. Roughly 1,500 flight incidents have been reported, including more than 60 crashes that led to the loss of 1,571 lives. In 1988, the USS Vincennes shot down Iran Air Flight 655, killing all 290 passengers over the Persian Gulf. The captain of the ship, William C. Rogers III, was later awarded the Legion of Merit for his command.

As for the rest of the 1,571 dead passengers, the US still carries a part of the blame. I know no one in the United States planned to kill any of these passengers, but still they failed to ensure that their government’s sanctions had their desired effect — to hurt the Islamic government. Instead, it has been the people who have paid the price.

A simple “IF” clause could have spared the lives of hundreds; something like: “Sale of passenger aircraft or parts for maintenance of such aircraft is exempt from sanction.” But nobody bothered, and as is the norm with sanctions, they made the people bleed and fortified the position of the government. Most of the sanctions against Iran are indiscriminate and even useless; indiscriminate, because they have interfered with the daily life of Iranians, and useless because the government has always found ways around them.(ht2 Naj)